Seems like to me the guards that were drafted at #7 had better NBA careers than the bigs drafted at 7.

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Nice summation. Thanks for the workup. Bigs have a harder time without the quickness adaptation. Footwork and body placement take longer.

At #7, I would take a chance on Xavier Henry. He could immediately start at 1, 2 or eye-popping three. He is as fluid as Tay right now. He is NBA ready. This draft choice must start half of the upcoming games and Henry is a natural at facing the basket. What ever team gets him, they will get a player (upon the right playing time) who will make the top five in ROY.

...Always good to see Eddie Griffin's name mentioned here in the forum.

I don't see a lot of "franchise-changers" on that list.

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Which means that unless some of the pongs ~ ping are way for a top three pick or some foolish GM allows Joe to sucker him for a Rip etc trade to move up, there will be changes in the way this franchise performs next year other than probably 10 more victories....which means at least we are moving in positive direction.

Unless we're picking a superstar, drafting a 2 or a 3 would be insane.

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Not at all. Things never stay stable and look for spaces in between the obvious. This is the creative wiggle room and usually will stop the unstable slide. Big men are at least a 3 year project and this is counting the right attitude. As these young men get younger, their placement value rarely stays consistent and the right mix might be five years out. It is rare that they stay with the same team after five years with under developed starter stats. When the latter happens and they are still marginal, then you know the organization is not developing in this area.

However, if you pick the right load-in, then circumstances might give you unforeseen flexibility. The 1-3 year range is extremely important. Look at that number 6 list again. Picking the best (regardless of position) gives you a value strategy of using thinking tools:

What players will become positive and incremental placements?

What is the level of talent that has been three years out?

Who are your elbow competitors?

Is your system able to handle the flexibility even if it is overloaded and is this overloaded aspect a minus or a possible advantage?

According to LithuanianBasketball.com (via ESPN's TrueHoop Network site Ball in Europe), Mindaugas Kuzminskas has declared for the NBA Draft.
Who?
You may never have heard of Kuzminskas, but it appears the Knicks have. According to the site, vice president of basketball operations Glen Grunwald and international scout Kevin Wilson recently scouted Kuzminskas, who's currently playing for Siauliai in the Lithuanian League.
At 20 years of age, Draft Express doesn't have him getting drafted in their mock draft. But they do note that: "He has good size for his position and long arms, and is also quite athletic and agile, being able to run the floor very well with good speed, disposing of decent balance and good quickness too."
The Knicks are currently slated for the 8th pick in the second round -- Utah has the rights to their first-round pick -- so there's a chance they could take a flier on Kuzminskas. Yet, it's far from a sure bet.